Saddam's defence: Players and case

Saddam Hussein is being tried in a court in Baghdad, charged with mass killing in the deaths of 143 Shia men from the village of Dujail.

On Wednesday the former Iraqi leader appeared in the heavily guarded courtroom. A few hours later, the trial was adjourned until the end of November.

Cages have been installed in the courtroom in Baghdad

Saddam Hussein's local lawyer Khalil Dulaimi, who has repeatedly argued that the defence has not had enough time to study the evidence, asked for a three-month adjournment. He was given just six weeks.

The next few weeks could see a number of eminent international lawyers moving into high-profile roles on the defence team.

Mr Dulaimi, a member of the Iraqi Bar Association, is leading Saddam Hussein's defence in Iraq. He has little experience of defending clients in major criminal cases - particularly not those involving allegations of crimes against humanity.

DEFENCE TEAM Khalil Dulaimi Iraqi lawyer, lead counsel Abdul Haq al-Ani UK-based advisor Des Doherty Northern Ireland-based solicitor Anthony Scrivener QC UK human rights barrister

The former leader's defence, however, is being co-ordinated from London by Dr Abdul Haq al-Ani, an Iraqi exile who has lived in the UK capital for two decades.

He has approached two eminent international lawyers in recent weeks.

Des Doherty, a Londonderry solicitor who was also involved in the Northern Ireland Bloody Sunday inquiry into the deaths of civilians on a protest march in 1972, will act as the former Iraqi leader's solicitor.

Anthony Scrivener QC, a prominent British human rights barrister, has been approached to lead the defence.

Mr Scrivener has worked on miscarriage-of-justice cases all over the world. In 1989, he helped free the Guildford Four, who were wrongly convicted in the UK for a pub bombing carried out by the Provisional IRA.

It has been reported that he has not been instructed yet and it could take weeks for him to be called to the Iraqi Bar.

Others advising the defence team include Ramsay Clark, a former US attorney general; Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian prime minister; and Aysha Muammar Gaddafi, daughter of the Libyan leader.

Challenges

Mr Dulaimi is expected to request an immediate adjournment of the trial.

The main thrust of the defence will be that the Iraqi Special Tribunal set up to try Saddam Hussein and his associates has no jurisdiction. It is thought that the challenge will question whether an occupying country - in this case the US - can override the laws of a country that it has invaded and create a judicial system.

DEFENCE QUESTIONS Legitimacy of court set up under US occupation Independence of Iraqi judges Head of state immunity No detailed charge sheet

Specifically, the defence argues that the Iraqi Special Tribunal is illegal under the Geneva Conventions because it was created by statute when Iraq was run by the Coalition Provision Authority and signed by the Iraqi Governing Council, an unelected body.

They also question whether it constitutes a fair and independent tribunal, consisting as it does entirely of Iraqi judges.

The second line of defence is that like most heads of state, the former Iraqi leader has immunity from prosecution as a former head of state, and retrospective legislation cannot remove that immunity.

Iraqi officials say the only charge against Saddam Hussein, so far, is the killing of more than 140 men in the mostly Shia village of Dujail after a failed 1982 assassination attempt against him.

Mr Ani told the BBC that the defence will argue that those killed had been found guilty under Iraq's laws and Saddam's only role was to sign their death warrants - in the same way that George W Bush signed 152 death warrants while he was governor of Texas.

Some human rights groups and international lawyers question whether Saddam will get a fair trial

"These people were tried and found guilty and sentenced to death according to the Iraqi criminal code," the Iraqi-born barrister said.

He also told the BBC that the defence team had only recently received an 800-page bundle of documents outlining the prosecution case.

He said many of the pages they have been sent were unreadable and they still had no specific charge details.

The defence will argue that they need more time to study the documentation and question the witnesses.

Mr Dulaimi in Baghdad has also accused the Americans of not allowing him to properly prepare the case for his client.

"All my meetings with him are being done under severe American monitoring," he told the US magazine Newsweek in an interview to be published soon.

Mr Dulaimi has also said that the 45 days allowed to prepare for the trial after the investigator presented his evidence is insufficient. This complaint is supported by the US-based group Human Rights Watch.

The Special Tribunal says 45 days is enough under Iraqi law.